Originally Posted by alanbikehouston
A properly designed drivetrain does not require "cross-chaining" to select gears that are actually needed by most riders. If you must "cross chain" to get to a gear that you need, you need a different cassette, or different chainrings.
Well, Shimano designed it. And Shimano says that it is designed for everything except big-big, little-little. Ahhh, what do THEY know about bicycle drive trains anyway**********
Originally Posted by alanbikehouston
I knew a kid learning to shift a car who drove all the way to campus in first gear. Don't confuse what is possible "possible" with what a device is designed for.
The car was NOT designed for that. And the owners manual tells you NOT to do it. So, this would be the same as big-big, and little-little. Not designed for it - not reccomended - can be done.
It is fine if you want to be more restrictive than the manufacturers reccomendation. But, your chain and cogs are not going to burn up by staying within Shimano's reccomendations.